Buried

Today, Angel was trying to find a place to hide her rawhide. She’ll wander around whimpering, looking for the perfect place, so that I won’t go steal it the moment she turns her back. Like I want her wet, soggy, chewed-on rawhide. Anyway, I caught her on her stomach, legs splayed out behind her, belly-crawling under my son’s little table, pushing the rawhide with the tip of her nose under his stool. As she inched back out, she was expecting me not to acknowledge it was there. So, I stupidly wandered around, acting like I didn’t know where it was and asking her to show me. Angel just smiled at me, her eyes saying, “You’ll never find it.”

Puppy Mafia

I got kneecapped by a giraffe today when Angel decided that she wanted to play and I wasn’t paying attention to her. She picked it up and swung it around at my legs, hitting me just below my kneecap…multiple times. At the time, I was on the phone with my wife…the reason I wasn’t paying attention to her. But Angel didn’t care. I’m expected to drop everything and be at her beck and call, and if I fail to do so, then punishment is swift and painful. I’ve been walking with a limp all day.

Freeeedoooommm!

My wife decided to try to burn down the house this morning when her toast went full mushroom cloud. So, I opened the backdoor to air out the smoke. Since it was a nice day, I left the door open for a little bit. Angel was in hog heaven. She could go outside or come inside at her leisure. And she did…back and forth…back and forth. She was so giddy and excited. I could imagine these thoughts going through her head.

“This is the best…day…EVER! I love being a dog! Ooh, squirrel! Let me check that out. He got away. It’s okay, I’ll go get some water and check the food bowl. Nope, it’s still empty. I think I’ll go chew some grass. Wait. Did I check the food bowl? I can’t remember. I’ll check it again just in case. Nope, it’s still empty. That’s right, I did check it. I remember now. Oh my god! I must get that leaf. Die, interloper! Whew, I’m thirsty. I’m going to get some more water. Look at that, the food bowl is still empty. Maybe if I lick it, I can make some food appear.”

Battle Dog

As I was putting the harness on Angel today, I was struck with the idea that she looked like she was wearing body armor. It reminded me of Cringer from the old He-Man cartoon, his cowardly green tiger that would transform into the fearless Battle Cat. So, I started calling Angel “Battle Dog” every time I put her harness on. It’s like she’s gearing up for a fight!

The Shiz

Angel finally learned how to get out of the car on her own. I’ve been trying to teach her to be down on the floor first and then climb out of the car instead of trying to make the jump from Troy’s car seat all the way to the ground. It took me having to drag her off the seat a couple of times for her to learn, but today, she jumped down on the floor and hopped out of the car all on her own. Then, she strutted her sassy hips to the garage door like she knew she was the “shiz.” I’m so proud of her. She’s really smart.

OCD

Angel is mad at me. Why, you might ask? Because I turned off the ceiling fan in the den. I did it while she was in the backyard, enjoying the beautiful Fall weather, and the moment she came inside, she knew something was different. She looked up at the fan, staring intently for several minutes, never blinking, almost willing it to start moving. But when it didn’t, she gave it the stink eye, and then she turned her disgust on me. And every single time she’d come inside, she’d do the same thing. She’d check to see if the fan had come to its senses, then she’d give it the stink eye for its betrayal. I’m not sure if she knew I was the one that had caused this chaotic disruption to her life, or if she simply included me because I was in the room. But either way, the fan and I were on her poop list until Troy came home and switched it back on. After that, she was perfectly fine again.

Breakthrough

We had a breakthrough today. Troy has actually been attempting to get off the couch and walk slowly across the room while Angel is roaming free. He was encouraged and emboldened by the fact that she stood there and watched him, but she didn’t chase him. So, he’s attempted it several times with positive results. My mom even managed to get him to climb off the couch and open the back door, so that Angel could go outside. This afternoon, he told me, “I’m warming up to the dog. I’m feeling more comfortable walking around her.” Maybe this will be the start of something more!